Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Momotaro no Karakuri Museum 桃太郎のからくり博物館

Visited 17.04.2015 (Fri)

Story of Momotaro. The story of Momotaro, a famous Japanese folktale, is said to have originated from Okayama. I actually do recall watching cartoons (and even movie) adapted from the story of Momotaro when I was a child. It was about a kid who was born out of a gigantic peach and therefore named Momotaro and his heroic act to save villagers from ogres that were plaguing their homeland. In Okayama Prefecture, you can find Momotaro represented in various forms of media; the most prominent one being the statue located just in front of Okayama JR Station. A museum dedicated to this legendary folktale resides in Kurashiki city, within the Bikan district. Made our way here after the canal boat ride to relive our childhood memories of Momotaro.

Side notes:
- Found out later that the movie I watched when I was a kid was a Mandarin movie named "The Child of Peach" produced in Taiwan and was first screened in 1987.
- An excellent pictorial representation of the folktale: https://www.okayama-japan.jp/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/momotaro_en.pdf

Trick eye. Occupying a two storey traditional storehouse, Momotaro no Karakuri Museum actually appeals more to the younger audience. Upon entering the museum, a staff led us through the game facilities set up at various corners of the room, explaining/demonstrating to us how the games should be played. To me, the place felt like a mini trick eye museum, where most of them are visual illusion games. Apart from that, the museum also displayed an extensive collection of books, pictures, videos, toys featuring Momotaro that were published/produced over the years. Here, you can find books translated into numerous languages which are and can be enjoyed by/passed down to future generations. There is a mini theatre where visitors can sit down to enjoy nostalgic cartoons on the adventures of Momotaro and his comrades.

Regardless of age, I am pretty sure you will be amused by the visual illusion games played here!

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Momotaro no Karakuri Museum 桃太郎のからくり博物館
倉敷市本町5-11
Operating hours: 1000 - 1700 hrs
Entrance fee = 600 yen
https://www.kurashiki-tabi.jp/see/193/

How to get there? 

(1) By foot. Museum is located within Kurashiki Bikan district 倉敷美観地区; approximately 10 minutes walk from Kurashiki JR Station.

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Miyake Shouten 三宅商店

Visited 17.04.2015 (Fri)

Sense of nostalgia. Located in Kurashiki Bikan District (倉敷美観地区), Miyake Shouten was built in the later years of Edo period and was once a sundry shop. Now it has been converted into a cafe with most of its original features retained/preserved. Upon stepping into Miyake Shouten, you will be greeted by a strong nostalgic ambience within the cafe. Aged wooden structures and furnishing, elevated platform with low tables and cushions as seats, these are some features are typically seen in traditional Japanese houses. Also noticed that there was a table located at the end of the house which looked outwards to a small garden compound - a good hideout to hang out with friends over a meal or drink.

Curry rice & parfait paradise. For lunch, Miyake Shouten serves only curry rice as their main course. The set comprises of curry, cooked using seasonal ingredients, served with brown rice, tsukemono (pickles) and soup. Curry gravy was very flavourful and moderately spicy, accompanied with greens, slices of potato and fried lotus root and all of us like it a lot. We ordered the curry set (available on weekdays) which came with a small dessert and drink (coffee/tea). Dessert served on the day of my visit was chiffon cake and a scoop of ice-cream, which was an extremely satisfying way to wrap up the entire lunch course. If you are a parfait lover, you will not want to miss their exciting line-up of flavours offered all year round! Okayama Prefecture being a kingdom of fruits, the parfaits in Miyake Shouten are created using seasonal fruits and will definitely satisfy any sweet tooth.

Washi tape fever! Anyone here is a fan of scrapbooking? If you are, MT washi tape will surely be found in your toolkit. During my spare time, I do some simple scrap booking and washi tape has always been such an easy-to-use material for any of my scrap booking project. In fact, Kurashiki is where MT washi tape originated from! In Miyake Shouten, there is a corner dedicated to these washi tape and the collection which is put up for sale here will make any washi tape lovers spoilt for choice. Having said that, there are actually many other shops in Kurashiki Bikan District which carry this brand of washi tape, so do keep a lookout for them as well while spending a leisure afternoon strolling in this area.

Look at the collection of MT washi tape!

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Miyake Shouten 三宅商店
岡山県倉敷市本町3-11
Opening hrs: http://www.miyakeshouten.com/access/index.html
About 10 mins walk from Kurashiki JR Station.
http://www.miyakeshouten.com/

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Kurashiki Bikan Chiku 倉敷美観地区, Kurashiki River Boat Ride くらしき川舟流し

Visited 17.04.2015 (Fri)

Nostalgia. Kurashiki Bikan Chiku or Historical Quarter 倉敷美観地区 is a national historical preservation district and a sense of nostalgia hits you instantaneously upon stepping foot into this well preserved town. During the Edo Period (300 years ago), this area flourished as a merchant's quarter where goods/commodities trading took place. The town is made up a narrow canal with distinct white walls warehouses and merchants' houses lined up on both sides. Though the bustling scene of river boats crowding on the canal, merchants engaging in their trade and workers transferring goods from one place to another is no longer in existence, the restored shop houses and warehouses are now occupied by ryokans, shops, cafes, restaurants, bank and tourist information center, and continue to play an essential role to showcase how life has been in the past for many future generations to come. Spent an afternoon here; strolling along the sides of the waterway, stopped by the specialty shops housed in the charming refurbished houses every now and then, and eventually joined a river boat tour to wrap up my fruitful expedition of the historical quarter.

Kurashiki River.

One distinct feature of the buildings here in Kurashiki is the white coloured walls. Bottom right: Beautiful stained glass windows of Chugoku Bank.

Top right: Ohara Museum of Art; Bottom right: The wooden, western style building was originally Kurashiki Town Hall. Now it has been converted into a tourist information center. 

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Highlights

(1) Kurashiki River Boat Tour くらしき川舟流し
Operating hrs: 0930 - 1700 hrs, one river boat setting off every 30 minutes.
Boat fee = 500 yen
Disembarkation / embarkation point: Nakabashi 中橋, near Kurashiki-kan 倉敷館
https://www.kurashiki-tabi.jp/see/3598/

One of the best way to walk down the memory lane in Kurashiki is to hop onto a leisure boat tour of Kurashiki River, which was once packed with incoming and outgoing boats ferrying goods in the olden days. The boat transverses between Takasagobashi 高砂橋 and Imabashi 今橋, and the entire tour takes approx 20 minutes. The last time when I embarked on a similar river boat ride was the river punting along the canal of Yanagawa city in Fukuoka Prefecture. Kurashiki's version is less than half of the distance covered in Yanagawa, and the boat only goes beneath one bridge (Nakabashi) during the journey. As the boat gradually moved through the calm waters, passengers can admire the white walls houses neatly lined up on the sides of the canal, imagining how lively and busy the town had been in the past.

(2) Kurashiki Ivy Square 倉敷アイビースクエア
https://www.ivysquare.co.jp/

One instagram worthy spot not to be missed is hidden within this compound. Do keep a look out for the picturesque, ivy covered red brick walls in this former cotton mill, which has been converted into a multi purpose public space comprising of hotel, restaurants and souvenir shops. During autumn, the creepers transform into various shades of red, further elevating its allure and attractiveness.



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Kurashiki Bikan Chiku / Bikan Historical Quarter 倉敷美観地区



How to get there? 

(1) By foot. It takes approx 15 minutes walk from Kurashiki JR Station.

Commemorative stamp: 

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Kurashiki JR Station 倉敷駅

Kurashiki JR Station, on Sanyo main line served by both local and limited express trains. From Okayama, it takes about 18 mins to travel by local train to Kurashiki, which is most well known for its Bikan Historical Quarter (倉敷美観地区).

Top right: South Exit; Bottom right: North Exit.

Do take note that Shin Kurashiki and Kurashiki are two different train stations. Shin Kurashiki JR Station, which was formerly called Tamashima, is served by both Sanyo Shinkansen and Sanyo main line, and is two stops away from Kurashiki JR Station on Sanyo main line. Alight at Shin Kurashiki JR Station for places of interest in Tamashima area such as Entsuji Temple (円通寺) and Nakagai-cho (仲買町). Visitors making their way to Bikan Historical Quarter should alight at Kurashiki JR Station.

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What's nearby?

(1) Ario Shopping Mall and Mitsui Outlet Park Kurashiki, about 1 - 3 mins walk from the North Exit of train station. 

Decided to see what the West Exit has to offer after returning to the train station since it was still early. There are two shopping malls; Ario is connected to Kurashiki Station by an overhead pedestrian bridge and houses a good variety of tenants such as ABC Mart, Beams, LOFT, Tower Records, etc. 

I was once a fan of factory outlet  because of the occasional attractive bargains for off-season items. On my maiden trip to Japan in 2011, I went to both Gotemba Premium Outlets and Mitsui Outlet Park Makuhari and I was extremely exhausted by my ambitious shopping itinerary (and I made a mental note not to do it again). Dropped by Mitsui Outlet Park Kurashiki since it was just in the vicinity. Similar concept like other conventional outlet parks where familiar names such as Gap, Beams, Nike, Adidas. Puma, etc are found here. However, Kurashiki's version lacks luxury brands tenants (like Coach, Agnes b, Burberry, Kate Spade, etc) which I have come across and may make here a less attractive place for shoppers to visit.
- Ario Kurashiki アリオ倉敷: http://www.ario-kurashiki.jp/web/index.html
- Mitsui Outlet Park Kurashiki 三井アウトレットパーク 倉敷: http://www.31op.com/kurashiki/english/

(2) Kurashiki Ekimae Tourist Information Office 倉敷駅前観光案内所
The tourist information office is located on the second floor of Kurashiki City Plaza West Building (倉敷市役所), which come into sight on the right upon exit from the South Exit.

(3) Sun Station Terrace Kurashiki さんすて倉敷, a small scale shopping mall housed within the train station.
http://kurashikieki-sc.jp/

Entrance to Bikan Historical Quarter.

(4) Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter 倉敷美観地区, about 10 mins walk from the South Exit of train station.

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Day 2 Himeji 姫路, Kurashiki 倉敷

Day 2: 17.04.2015
* Day 2 of 7 Days Sanyo & San'in Area Pass 

Himeji Castle

Breakfast: Toyoko Inn Okayama Eki Nishi Guchi Hiroba 東横イン岡山駅西口広場

Okayama JR 岡山駅 (0737 hrs) > Himeji JR 姫路駅 (0758 hrs)
by Nozomi のぞみ 114.

Visited Himeji Castle 姬路城. [1,000 yen]
http://www.city.himeji.lg.jp/guide/castle/

Himeji JR 姫路駅 (1155 hrs) > Okayama JR 岡山駅 (1215 hrs)
by Nozomi のぞみ 103.

Okayama JR 岡山駅 > Kurashiki JR 倉敷駅
by local train.

Lunch: Miyake Shouten 三宅商店
http://www.miyakeshouten.com/

Visited Kurashiki Bikan Chiku / Historical Quarter 倉敷美観地区:
(1) Kurashiki River Boat Ride くらしき川舟流し
(2) Momotaro no Karakuri Museum 桃太郎のからくり博物館
(3) Kurashiki Ivy Square 倉敷アイビースクエア
(4) Hayashi Genjuro 林源十郎商店
http://www.genjuro.jp/

Kurashiki JR 倉敷駅 > Okayama JR 岡山駅
by local train.

Dinner: Cafe Honmachi 喫茶ほんまち

- End of Day 2 -

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Kabakuro Kitanagase Branch かばくろ北長瀬店

Visited 16.04.2015 (Thu)

Kabayaki pork? Apart from demi glacé sauce tonkatsu don and fruit parfait, there was another food on my list of items to try when I was in Okayama. Japanese grilled eel or unagi no kabayaki (うなぎの蒲焼き) is a dish quite commonly seen on the menu of restaurants offering Japanese cuisine. What I love most about this dish is how the sweet soy sauce based sauce, which the eel is repeatedly being
dipped in, makes the eel so crispy after grilling over charcoal fire; in addition, eating my rice with this sauce never fails to whet my appetite. How about employing the same method, using the same condiment with other kinds of protein? I believe this was what struck Kabakuro to try it on pork and after numerous trail and error, fine tweaking of the recipe, they finally created their very own grilled pork using kabayaki sauce named Butakaba (ぶたかば). Its popularity among the local people eventually uplift this dish to become a B-grade gourmet food in Okayama!

Still prefers kabayaki eel. Though Kabakuro has a branch near the train station, I decided to patronise the branch in Kitanagase instead; to take this opportunity to explore another part of Okayama city as well (we only managed to find a Uniqlo Nakasendou branch along the way). From Kitanagase JR Station, it took us quite a while before we eventually arrived at this stand alone restaurant, just before the dinner hour. Diners can choose either one or two cuts of meat which is served over rice. We ordered the normal grilled pork don ぶたかば重 (690 yen) and another one accompanied with chopped green onions and soft boiled egg ネギ温玉ぶたかば重 (900 yen). The appearance of the dish was already very appealing upon served. Meat was dipped into sweet kabakayi sauce and grilled over charcoal fire. This process was repeated several times till a crisp texture is achieved while ensuring the meat is not overcooked and meat juices are retained. I concluded that the result was not unexpected as the sauce should go well with pork and rice. And if I have to choose between kabayaki pork and eel, I will still prefer the latter. In my opinion, if pork and kabayaki sauce complement one another, the combination of eel and kabayaki sauce is considered seamless. Nevertheless, do try it out for yourself!

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Kabakuro Kitanagase Branch かばくろ北長瀬店

岡山県岡山市北区今1丁目9-27
Opening hrs: 1100 - 1500 hrs; 1700 - 2100 hrs; Last order: 2050 hrs
http://www.kabakuro.com/index.html

How to get there?

(1) By train.
From Okayama JR Station, take the local train via Sanyo main line and alight one stop later at Kitanagase JR Station (北長瀬駅). It takes about 15 - 20 minutes by foot from Kitanagase JR Station.

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Other branches:

Kabakuro Aeon Mall Okayama Branch かばくろイオンモール岡山店
Located on the 4th floor of Aeon Mall Okayama. This shopping mall is accessible via underpasses all the way from Okayama JR Station.
Opening hrs: 1000 - 2100 hrs; Last order: 2030 hrs

Chugoku Sanyo, San-in 中国地方山陽、山陰 - Cafe Antenna アンテナ

Visited 16.04.2015 (Thu)

Fruit Parfait Street. Okayama is known as Harenokuni (晴れの国) or sunny country because it experiences more sunny days than any other parts of Japan. And because of its favourable, temperate weather condition, it is an excellent place for wide varieties of fruits to breed in and Okayama is famously known for their high quality (and quantity of) white peaches and muscat grapes in Japan. Having been to Okayama twice (in 2015 and most recently end 2017), I have yet to coincide my visit with the harvesting season of white peaches which falls between mid July to mid Aug; something I will love to do so in future! As different fruits can be enjoyed in Okayama all year round, a campaign named "Fruit Parfait Street" (fruit parfait no machi フルーツパフェの街) was introduced in 2009 to promote local produce. To date, there are 37 cafes/restaurants dotted within Okayama city, participating in this popular campaign. Apart from introducing various types of parfait using seasonal fruits, each cafe/restaurant creates its very own irresistible signature to appeal sweets lovers and stand out from the rest. I have to say, after this visit to Cafe Antenna, fruit parfait has become a food item that I will think of instantaneously when anyone asked me about Okayama.

A quick summary of Okayama fruits season:
- White peaches: Mid July to mid August
- New pione grapes (ニューピオーネ): Early April to late October
- Ichijuku (イチジク) or figs: Mid September to mid November
- Momotaro grapes (桃太郎ぶどう): Early July to late November
- Strawberries: Early November to late May

List of cafes/restaurants participating in "Fruit Parfait Street" campaign: http://www.okayama-cci.or.jp/activation/fruitparfait.html

Exclusive parfait. Located along Korakuen-dori (後楽園通り) and within walking distance from Korakuen and Okayama Castle, Antenna is a retro cafe housed in a refurbished shophouse built during Taisho era. When we reached the cafe in the late afternoon after visiting Korakuen, the cafe was already packed with patrons, enjoying parfaits for afternoon tea. Despite being an old building, the ambience was pleasantly cosy; the high ceiling of the cafe makes it spacious as well. Fortunately, we managed to find a side bench table which could occupy the three of us. Upon seated, we flipped through the photobook menu which came with pictures of their delectable parfaits. We were definitely spoilt for choice! Eventually decided to order their signature creation parfait and a traditional dessert to share.

- Izushi Taisho Roman Parfait いづし大正浪漫パフェ (1,080 yen): Exclusive to Cafe Antenna, this is a beautifully decorated parfait which is so Instagram picture worthy. The entire body of the tall glass is filled with layers of cream and assortment of fresh fruits, topped up with a scope of ice cream and strawberries, and wedged with a slice of Okayama melon at its edge. This parfait has such precise balance of sweetness and sourness which makes every mouthful so satisfying. One point worth mentioning is the owner liaises directly with fruit farmers to ensure the freshest ingredients are utilised in their creations.

- Wafu macha ice 和風抹茶アイス: A traditional interpretation of local dessert, made up of a sccop of macha flavoured gelato, azuki paste, shiratama dango (白玉団子), handmade hiromitsu yuzu agar and cut fruits.

Izushi Taisho Roman Parfait 

Wafu macha ice

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Cafe Antenna アンテナ
岡山市北区出石町1-8-23
Opening hrs: 1100 - 1900 hrs, closed on Tuesdays
https://okayama-kanko.net/sightseeing/gourmet.php?id=24

How to get there? 

(1) By tram. From Okayama Ekimae Station, board Okayama Electric Tramway Higashiyama line (東山線) and alight at Okaden Jo-shita Station (岡電城下駅). It takes 10 minutes by foot from the tram station.